Apollo Projects Stadium is a sports stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand.[2] It was formerly called Orangetheory Stadium, AMI Stadium, and before that, the Addington Showgrounds.[3]
 Aerial view of Rugby League Park in July 2012 | |
 | |
| Former names | Rugby League Park, AMI Stadium, Christchurch Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | 95 Jack Hinton Drive, Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 43°32′37″S 172°36′15″E / 43.5437°S 172.6041°E |
| Owner | Canterbury Rugby League |
| Capacity | 17,104 (Sport mode) |
| Construction | |
| Expanded | 24 March 2012 |
| Architect | Populous |
| Tenants | |
| Canterbury Bulls, South Island, Crusaders[1] | |
History edit
The park is part of a complex with Wolfbrook Arena and Addington Raceway and has hosted international rugby league matches since the 1950s, including World Cup matches in 1975, 1977, 1988, 1990 and 1991.
The ground was bought by Canterbury Rugby League from the Christchurch City Council in the 1990s.
It was at this ground that the Kiwis won the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour's sole test in New Zealand to qualify for the 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup final.
Apollo Projects Stadium edit
Rugby League Park sustained significant damage during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was closed until 24 March 2012.[4] After the earthquake the stands had to be demolished.
The 2011 earthquake damaged AMI Stadium at Lancaster Park, the main sporting ground in Christchurch, beyond repair. As a temporary replacement for the city, Rugby League Park was upgraded and renamed AMI Stadium to seat 18,000 by March 2012 with a possible expansion to 26,000 for major games. As a result, the Crusaders are based there indefinitely, and the stadium has also hosted All Blacks test matches as well as a Wellington Phoenix pre-season match in September 2012.[1][5][6]On 9 November 2013 it held a round 5 A-League match between Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory in which the teams drew 1-1. On 14 May 2016, the ground played host to an NRL match between the Penrith Panthers and the New Zealand Warriors with the former being the home team.[7] Another NRL game took place on 9 June 2018 with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles replacing Penrith as the home team against the Warriors.[8] The Sea Eagles played another game at the stadium in 2019 but decided to not play in Christchurch in the 2020 season.
On 6 July 2018, the stadium was officially renamed to the Wyatt Crockett Stadium, becoming de-branded from AMI Stadium. This was to commemorate the Crusaders player Wyatt Crockett reaching the milestone of playing 200 Super Rugby matches.
On 6 April 2019, it was announced that the stadium would soon be known as Orangetheory Stadium.[9] The new name went into effect in June 2019.
In June 2023 it was announced that in August 2023 the stadium would be renamed to Apollo Projects Stadium, sponsored by Apollo Projects, a design and construction company.[10]
In 2023, the New Zealand Warriors announced a three year deal to play one home game a year in Christchurch from the 2024 NRL season onwards with Rugby League Park hosting the matches in 2024 and 2025 before Te Kaha opens its doors in 2026.[11] The Warriors defeated the Canberra Raiders 18-10 in the first of the fixtures on 22 March 2024.
International rugby league matches edit
A list of rugby league test matches played at the Addington Showgrounds / Rugby League Park.[12]
| Test# | Date | Result | Attendance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 July 1950 |  New Zealand def.  Great Britain 16–10 | 10,000 | 1950 New Zealand vs Great Britain series |
| 2 | 27 June 1953 | New Zealand def.  Australia 25–5 | 5,509 | 1953 Trans-Tasman Test series |
| 3 | 1 August 1964 | New Zealand def.  France 18–8 | 4,935 | 1964 New Zealand vs France series |
| 4 | 19 July 1970 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 23–9 | 8,600 | 1970 New Zealand vs Great Britain series |
| 5 | 4 August 1974 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 17–8 | 6,316 | 1974 New Zealand vs Great Britain series |
| 6 | 15 June 1975 | New Zealand def. France 27–0 | 2,500 | 1975 Rugby League World Cup |
| 7 | 12 June 1977 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 30–12 | 7,000 | 1977 Rugby League World Cup |
| 8 | 5 August 1979 | Great Britain def. New Zealand 22–7 | 8,500 | 1979 New Zealand vs Great Britain series |
| 9 | 22 July 1984 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 28–12 | 9,824 | 1984 New Zealand vs Great Britain series |
| 10 | 17 July 1988 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 12–10 | 8,525 | 1988 Great Britain Lions tour |
| 11 | 23 June 1991 | New Zealand def. France 32–10 | 2,000 | 1991 New Zealand vs France series |
| 12 | 4 November 2017 | New Zealand def.  Scotland 74–6 | 12,130 | 2017 Rugby League World Cup Group B |
| 13 | 18 November 2017 |  Tonga def.  Lebanon 24–22 | 8,309 | 2017 Rugby League World Cup Quarter finals |
| 14 | 9 November 2019 |  Fiji def.  Papua New Guinea 22–20 | 8,875 | 2019 Oceania Cup |
| 15 | 9 November 2019 | New Zealand def. Great Britain 23–8 | 8,875 | 2019 Great Britain tour of Oceania |
References edit
External links edit
- Orangetheory Stadium page at Vbase
- Christchurch Stadium broken med.govt.nz
- Rugby League Park rleague.com
- Rugby League Park rugbyleagueproject.org